Monday, December 12, 2016

It has been a big year for FoodWhat, and we are grateful to the many supporters, community partners, teachers, parents, staff, and youth who make what we do possible.

This month, several of our FoodWhatters are bringing workshops like "Trace Your Taco," "What You Drink What You Think," and "Eat a Rainbow" to 100 high school students in South County! The goal of this series to bring nutrition and food justice awareness to youth through peer-to-peer education.

Community Educator Uriel Reyes partners with Watsonville youth group Jóvenes Sanos to share information on food systems, farm worker rights, and ways we can support our environment and local economy while eating tacos!

Maria Perez invites students to think about alternative ways to eat outside of the industrial conventional food system.

Thanks to the FoodWhat fam, this year we partnered deeply with 48 stellar teens in our core programs:

88% of FoodWhat youth reported that they improved their leadership skills

76% told us they now eat more fruits and vegetables

100% of youth responded that they feel more prepared to get and keep a job after FoodWhat!

The FoodWhat Crew grew and ate or distributed over 2,300 pounds of fresh, organic produce!

FoodWhat youth reached another 650 teens and community members through big events on the farm and peer education!

It is with great excitement for the beginning of our second decade, and a tinge of bittersweetness for our goodbye to co-founder Abby Bell after 10 years of service, that we say so-long to 2016.

Here's to more decades of youth empowerment, food justice, and smiles like Essy's!